1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to providing assistance in locating available parking and more particularly to providing navigational assistance to a parking facility.
2. Description of the Related Art
When traveling to a destination via a vehicle, users often desire to park their vehicle at or near the destination. For example, when arriving at a shopping mall, a driver typically desires to park their vehicle in a parking facility (e.g., a parking lot) that is at or near the shopping mall. Unfortunately, parking facilities are often crowded with a large number of vehicles, making it difficult for users to find a suitable parking space. As a result, users often have to drive through various portions of a parking facility to locate a suitable parking space. For example, a user may have to circle through a parking facility several times or more to find an unoccupied parking space. The search for a parking space can result in an expenditure of the user's time, increased fuel consumption and general frustration of the user.
In attempt to assist users with finding a suitable location for parking, systems have been developed that attempt to monitor the status of available parking. Unfortunately, these systems may provide static parking information that may not accurately reflect continuous changes in parking availability. As a result, a user may not have an opportunity to make an informed decision as to whether or not they will continue to travel to their destination in view of changing parking conditions. Moreover, although some systems provide navigational assistance to locations of parking facilities, these systems do not provide for directing users to parking facility entrances that provide convenient access to available parking.